Illinois River Bison Discovery

January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2020

Reception Area

The partial skeleton of a bison found along the banks of the Illinois River is featured in a display about recent excavations at a bison kill site located south of Peoria, Illinois. This discovery represents the earliest evidence of bison hunting in Illinois. Radiocarbon dates of the bones place the kill at about 400 years B.C. Heretofore, bison populations were not thought to have arrived in the Illinois country before 1500 A.D.